Leave Sumiton and travel towards Jasper. Across from Sunny Oak Drive, turn into Argo Church of God and continue behind building where the cemetery is located. Three crosses on the hill beside it mark the location. There are 2 marked graves, 16 unmarked and as many as 50 total. Most of the information comes from a survey taken about 1930 and from information supplied by other information supplied by friends and family. Several additions were supplied by Flora Dora Winters Davidson, sister-in-law of George Grover Cleveland Mathis. In particular is the recollection of the amputated leg of James Joseph Mathis presented on his memorial page.
The telling of the history of this cemetery would be remiss without mentioning Dovie Hicks Goodwin who wisely took the time back in the '30's as a relatively young girl to index and gather names of those in the cemetery before time and death left them to be forgotten and to Julius and Janice Goodwin who copied her list. Those of us who have family here owe everyone involved in the preservation of information a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.
The cemetery was in the path of an F-4 tornado in 2011 and has had little care since then. In the aftermath, a headless body was found hanging from a tree over the cemetery. Ethel Aaron and her husband Hubert Aaron, descendants of Fannie Jane Mathis Aaron, had regularly taken loving care of it for many years, but severe damage and age eventually made that impossible. Currently, plans are underway to try and reclaim the cemetery and put up a marker before it gets lost to history.

University of Alabama Cemetery and Graves Identification lists this as Cemetery #110. Gene Gravley who is Mr Cemetery at UoA does wonderful historical preservation work to insure Alabama cemeteries are not lost or forgotten. He is a retired sheriff from Walker County and absolutely delightful to speak with.

Thanks to L'eau Noire for braving a "snake infested" patch of land to secure the picture of the sadly overgrown cemetery as it appears today.

Kathy Ausderau